Disclaimer: I say now that I own nothing produced, created and written by Square Enix, Disney Studios, Lucas Arts and any other partnerships that aided in the creation of the series, "Kingdom Hearts", in addition to any twists I may include later on. I do not own the characters and locations portrayed except those I created for this story. This story takes place between Birth By Sleep and the original Kingdom Hearts, in the perspective of my protagonist who is searching the light hidden within his inner darkness, traveling to various worlds to try and find this answer as he goes.

Kingdom Hearts
The Light in Dark Flames

Prologue: The Blackened Key

Another empty morning… The sun shining outside, a sort of calm atmosphere flows in through the open window looming just over my head. I can feel the gentle breeze that shifts the very curtains into a swaying motion through this portal. The smell from the fresh air just outside, above me, makes it to my nostrils; heavy pollination and dust lingered in with the fresh scents… It would appear that spring has sprung in once again for this year as well, to be expected. And, whenever it's spring, it's usually a sign for the people here…

Cleaning! Organizing! Preparation!

Spring cleaning has to settle in every spring; no wonder why it's called this, not that it really bothers me. It's just the same thing, every year; even my neighbors get into it and repeats their usual procedures. Cleaning out their homes, organize their spaces, and preparation of the mass family gatherings that happen time following the last bit of snow melts. It'd be the same with me on the two fronts, but the third one I am always left out of. The reason for this is that I have no known family ties that I'm aware of. I'm adopted and I well moved out from the place that had raised me into the person that I am; to be frank, I wasn't on the best of terms with me adoptive family, and since I left, two years ago, I never did hear from them again.

So, it has just been me, myself, and I for two years, with only maybe one or two friends who can somewhat relate, but they had families who cared about them as well, while additionally working on bettering themselves. Me, well… I've been somewhat of a dreamer; every night, I would look out my window to look at the stars up in the sky, and every time I do, I always wonder what can be found beyond this world that I walk on. However, last night's dream was surprisingly… peculiar and standout than usual. I was falling into a sea of darkness, eventually landing on a surface within this blackened area. It was like… there was absolutely nothing there for me to light the way to see where I needed to go.

It wasn't until I took a step that a blinding light shone up from beneath my feet to reveal that I was standing on a surface that looked almost like a stained glass image, one consisting mostly of dark-themed colors; maroons, navies, grays, violets, blacks… From where I stood, I could not make out exactly what I was standing on, but I do recall seeing myself on this surface I stood on, as peculiar as that sounds. Very strange indeed, seeing a stained glass image of my black hair with red streaks, dark-brown eyes, light complexion while clad in a black, high-collared vest with a bronze-colored lining over a maroon tee-shirt, and dark gray cargo pants, designed with white and black checkered designs around the pockets and belt line, a dark brown, leather belt with a spade-shaped buckle around my waist with deep red sneakers on my feet. Around my neck I wore a silver chain necklace with a closed, spade-shaped locket; one that will remain locked for the key to open it has been lost.

Additionally, one more that was associated to my character that I did not understand; in my right hand, I held what appeared to be some kind of… key-shaped sword, one with what seems associated to darkness, demonic figures and, well, all around evil, yet it looked almost like the key for my locket before I went and lost it. In my left hand, I was clasping the locket, and that was all I could see before I woke up to this new day… This is the first day of spring here in this little place I call home; Riverbed Town.

This place houses at most a population of five to seven-hundred individuals, not a whole lot happening, and the place has at one time been underwater, so very long ago. Of course, the water dried up and people colonized the valley. We sit between two large mountains within this valley, and access to other towns is possible only by trains that run through here, stopping at our station nestled in the center of town. Tickets can be costly to get from one place to another, but despite the small location, the place is so calm, and so peaceful. The residents that do reside her actually enjoy spending time within the town itself rather than take a train out; the cities can be bustling with too much activity and noise that it makes it hard to slow down and relax.

Deciding not to keep this young day waiting any longer, I gradually brought myself out of bed, walking over to the sole mirror in my 12'x14' bedroom space; not a lot, but enough for the essentials. My bed, a desk with a beginner alchemy set on it, mirror, dresser and a single guitar were the major pieces in my room; nothing too fancy, but enough to keep me somewhat entertained, really. My hair, as I gazed at my reflection, had quite a stand-up effect going on, though it is to be expected since I was sleeping not that long ago. However, a quick comb through the thick, shoulder-length locks and it looked decently presentable, really.

While winter was around, I kept my small, single-person apartment space as neat and organized as I could, though perfection was definitely out of the question. The place was small to house a single resident, obviously, that's me, with only enough room to entertain one, and at lucky, two, guests effectively. Well, thankfully I don't have much more than that; otherwise I would need a bigger space to live comfortably and effectively, really. Heaving out a sigh, I reached out at my reflection in the mirror, but stopped short.

"…Such an odd dream. That really can't be my own, can it…?" I uttered to myself, closing my eyes while shaking my head a little; maybe I'm thinking over this a bit too hard, really. I gave a shrug, and moved to get dressed for the day ahead, wearing the clothes I usually wore, the same depicted in the stained glass image mentioned earlier, minus that "key sword" that I was holding. As cool as it appeared, wielding a weapon like that wouldn't be very practical; I didn't see any sharp edges to inflict wounds and, at best, it would be best to apply considerable blunt trauma to knock someone out. Other than that, I don't see the practicality behind its use, really. But hey, that is just me, and who am I to think on it when I have something better to do today; I should head to the hangout spot where my two friends and I relax and enjoy one another's company.

It makes me wonder if I should even tell them about this dream I had; maybe they would get a few laughs out of it; I see no reason why they shouldn't, it is rather outlandish, even for here in Riverside. Between looking up at the stars and this dream… maybe I was just up too late and I was seeing things to a very vivid level. Makes me wonder how I can joke around with this; maybe I can explain that maybe I had a drink too many and I was seeing things that shouldn't have been there? Pfft, yeah, that would get them going, seeing how I don't normally drink, really.

After getting my shoes done up, I walked over to the door to my room, and stepped into the main portion of the apartment; the combined living space, kitchen area with a door to a bathroom located in the one corner. It was just the one floor I had to worry about, and it was just as tidy as I had left it when I headed to bed last night. There was a single chair and small loveseat as far as seating was concerned, a coffee table for things like books, beverages and so forth, a bookshelf and a small TV. For the kitchen, there was a standard, run of the mill one-door fridge with one door for the freezer on top, stove and oven combo with plenty of counter space, in addition to a sink and dishwasher to make cleaning dishes a lot easier of a job.

There was a piece of artwork here and there, and while I didn't understand art, at least I knew what I liked, really. They may not be very expensive pieces, but they at least brought some life into the space and nothing wrong with that, surely. With a sigh, I did a check in my pocket to be sure I had my key to get back here, seeing how I usually lock up when I head out and all. Certain that I had the key in my pocket I walked over to the front door, turned the doorknob, and stepped out. Turning behind me, I closed the door, took my key and locked it behind me. When I was sure I couldn't open it, I placed the key in my pocket, and walked down the hall towards the stairwell leading down; I was only on the third floor, so I didn't have too far of a walk to be concerned about. Besides, it might do my body some good to walk rather than take the elevator down just two floors, right?

While I certainly ran into people along the way, very few of them paid me much attention, though part of that might be because of how I look. I do appear somewhat anti-social to them, sporting that "half-gothic" look of mine, but trust me, I'm nothing at all like that. I am neither goth nor emo; I don't have troubles in my life to have me behave so out of control and angry all the time. I have a pretty good sense of humor and a good person to know if people just give me the chance to talk to them, but only a small few are able to do this with any kind of troubles.

Down on the main floor, I decided to check if I had any mail by opening my post box with the key attached to the same chain my home key was on. Opening the box, I saw a few fliers for grocery sales at nearby stores, in addition to a bill or two as well as one letter from welfare. You see, I'm not very rich, and I have a hard time applying for a job in winter because of how I look and dress, so I need a means to get a check starting from mid-November right into mid-April, the times where employment is getting laid off for the winter. Now that it was getting to that time, hopefully I can send in a resume to get myself employed soon to get myself more than what my welfare checks are providing me, which is enough to pay my bills and rent.

Other than that, it was basically the same old I usually get, not that I'm bothered by it at all in the slightest, though I do wish for some kind of change to happen, and soon. Placing my mail into the pocket in my vest, I just carried on out of the building, and walked down the alleyways towards the hangout. It was actually a single willow near a small pond that was near the train station, and we watch them come in and go very frequently as we sit up in the branches, doing our usual things. My apartment wasn't that far from the usual spot, so I went for a small detour to check out some of the stores and see what is on sale first hand.

Nothing entirely stood out, so I grabbed something we usually have as soon as spring came out; shaved ice cones with strawberry, chocolate and vanilla flavors. The sun was rather hot, and my two friends liked strawberry and chocolate, respectfully, which left me to enjoy the vanilla. It may be a bland and somewhat repetitive flavor to many, but I was fine with it; nothing absolutely wrong with that. Getting to the tree, I could see my two friends already up in the tree, facing the station as usual.

The first friend was male, like myself, a bit taller, about three inches from my five-foot seven-inches height, dressed in a blue denim jacket with a green shirt underneath, wearing snow-camouflage cargos with no real standout features, as well as some red runners with a lightning bolt on their outside faces. He had short, somewhat spiked green hair and, if he was facing my way, his eyes were a brilliant emerald color that would make girls' hearts just flutter. I would consider him sort of a ladies' man, a considerable flirt that is sometimes successful, but other times, he gets shot down out of that gate. Well, that's Gerard for you; he's a popular fellow where everyone around town knows him, and while he can hang out with anyone, he chooses to hang out with me and our other friend.

She was on the other side on a separate branch, standing while leaning against the trunk with her arm down and resting on her hip. She was in a white blouse with some flowers on it, with a yellow shirt under it, along with some standard beige shorts, white socks as well as some pink shoes of her own. This girl has luscious, honey-brown hair with some beautiful aquamarine eyes with a personality that's sweet and caring. She was a bookworm of sorts, searching for knowledge with hopes to understand the worlds outside our own, and how to get to them. Cordelia is what she goes by, and a very nice person who enjoys sharing her theories to Gerard and me, even if we don't entirely understand her at times.

"Oi, you're late once again… Took a detour on the way here, Demitri?" I listened to Gerard speak up, only to look over his shoulder at me when he did so. Cordelia would follow suit by looking at me as well, though soon, the both of them would hop down out of the tree, landing on the grassy ground a little. Yes, Demitri is my name, another reason why some people keep their distance from me given the chance, but not something I can control. A name is only just that; a name and nothing more and simply a means to identify ourselves as humans.

"Don't be like that Gerard; at least I got shaved ice for everyone to make up for being late." I explained, referring to the cones I had, allowing Gerard and Cordelia to approach and take a cone each. Gerard took the chocolate cone, and Cordelia took the strawberry cone, leaving me to the vanilla cone, just like I thought, not that I minded it that much, really. I headed over to take a seat on the ground, looking over to the pond just as I heard the other two approach and they sat down nearby.

"Ever since graduation last year, this has been what we've been doing with our days; coming here, hanging in the park and watching the train come and go, though we rarely stepped on it… Do you think this is how things will stay?" I pondered aloud, looking at the ice before me, and then leaned back a little to shift my gaze up to the sky. I shrugged even though I didn't give much time to get a response from either one of them.

"I don't know, people change, times change… We might have been doing this routine for just about a year now, but we will have to do our own things eventually, Demitri. But the one thing that will remain is our friendship; we can be so far from one another, go our separate ways, but it won't change the connection we share with one another." Cordelia explained, trying to bring reason and belief into the question, and I just smiled even though I never faced her. I relaxed a little, and took a bit of the shaved ice into my mouth, closing my eyes to enjoy the flavor of that ice.

"Perhaps we will remain friends, but perhaps we may move on and, eventually, become different people when compared to who we are now… Pffft! Yeah right, like I would stop being me!" Gerard explained rather proudly, chuckling as he does, and I can see why. Since he became a teenager, he had always been a flirt, and to be frank, I never noticed much of a change from him since those early days. He took a bit of his own ice in his mouth, before he would gaze over to Cordelia and chuckled. "Still considering my offer since the day we met, Cordy?" That happened to be Gerard's nickname for Corderia, finding it easier to remember than her actual name, and since they met, he asked if she would go out on a date with him, and… well, from what I recall from that conversation, she would think it over and left it as that.

"I'm still thinking about it, Gerard." She explained, Cordelia slowly nibbling through her ice as she would look through a book she had brought. By the thickness, it was obviously a text book, so there was no doubt that research was on her mind at the moment. However, before, Gerard would just shrug and kind of grin afterwards when he asks this question to her and gets this very answer, now, he seemed to have lost his patience.

"When summer is over, you'll be heading into that college you wanted to go to, and Demitri and I won't be seeing you nearly as often as now, so I really need a yes or no answer from you before then, or my heart may never be satisfied!" Gerard was sometimes known for his impatience as well as a knack for showing off, but that was the kind of person that he was, and nobody has ever made an effort to try and change his behavior in any way.

"Okay, you really want an answer?" Cordelia spoke, and Gerard nodded quite a bit. "Lean in close, close your eyes, and direct your ear to me." Somehow, I can see where this was going, and as tempted as I was to try and talk Gerard out of it, he was already in position and followed her directions. She leaned in, and I sincerely thought she would kiss his cheek for a moment, but I was taken aback by what happened. "Not interested!" She yelled right into his ear, causing him to yell, fall over, and drop his cone of shaved ice on the ground, and… I laughed with Cordelia at his reaction.

"…A simple "no" to my face would've worked as well… Oooh, now my ears are ringing; thanks Cordy. And Demitri, it's not funny!" Gerard explained, sounding a little furious to hear me laugh, but I just shook my head.

"No, it wasn't funny… It was hilarious! Good one, Cordelia!" I called out mid-laugh, and eventually, Gerard did join in to get a small laugh to happen before he settled down with us. "In all seriousness, though… It will be hard to imagine you'll be going to college when this summer is over, Cordelia. It will be just me to make sure that Gerard stays under control to any woman that approaches him, even offer them a warning to how he behaves on a daily basis." I explained, trying to keep a joke going somewhat, though I received a shove from Gerard as a result; at least I was able to keep my cone and ice in hand from it.

"Okay, okay, I get it; it's "pick on Gerard day" today, isn't it?" Gerard spoke with a deadpanned expression, and this time, all of us laughed at the same time; these were the days I sincerely hoped would never change between the three of us. Little did we know of what laid in store for us just before the call of dusk…

The sun was just about to reach the edge of the mountains, the first day of spring was well-enjoyed by the three of us. It was a tradition that was shared between Gerard, Cordelia and I every year around this time. Just a hangout day with nothing special happening was how it usually went for the three of us, and we enjoyed this lifestyle to the greatest of pleasantries. That's life in a small, mountain-side valley town. We were on our way home when the sun was about to set on the horizon, though the daylight lingers around for a long while even after we go our separate ways.

Today… was different than those times. There was light right up to where we were about to split, but when it was that time, the sky seemed to be enveloped in a cloak of darkness, starting from the far edge of the valley to where the sun had just set. To the three of us, and all residents of this town, know this was not a normal phenomenon, and we all felt a cold, sharp feeling in the air like something was off… that something was wrong.

"Cordy, ummm… Can you care to explain if this is just some kind of weird weather pattern that we're experiencing, or are we enduring something completely different?" Gerard would ask, doing his best to remain as calm as possible, but I can read that he was anything but despite what his voice was expressing to us. I looked to Cordelia; I seemed to, oddly, be at peace in the darkness even though the other two seemed somewhat hesitant and shaky about it. Heh… I must really be an outcast among outcasts to behave like this, huh?

"I really don't know what is going on, but we should probably be heading home right away… here…" Cordelia explained, though her voice slowed a little as we could hear something creeping in the shadows; I may be at peace in darkness, but I can still get uneasy around things I can't see. The three of us positioned back to back, so we can see from all sides as best as we could, to be sure we wouldn't get snuck up on in the darkness, and I would rather not get attacked if possible… if whatever it was will have such intentions towards us.

"Gerard… you said you were a black belt, right?" I asked, my voice sounding serious as I recalled something that he would always brag on about. I personally wasn't a fighter, but I was able to defend myself if people offended me or my friends, really. I wondered if my understanding would be useful here, however, hence why I asked Gerard that question.

"Uhhh… in my head." Gerard explained, his voice showing hesitation now, and I raised an eyebrow, not that they could see. Well… that was great. I can defend myself, but I doubted I could defend the other two at the same time as I am. What… can I do?

I closed my fists and leaned forward, hearing the sounds in front of me; a voice was whispering in my head as I did, but I didn't know where it was coming from. "If one of you is whispering, can you speak up? I can't hear what you're trying to say." I asked aloud, hoping to get some kind of response back from it.

"Now's not the time to joke around, Demitri… we didn't say anything." I heard Cordelia explain, and I knew better than to doubt her, though the whispers seemed to be getting louder. Then, I heard swift movement, and before I knew it, I saw yellow eyes in amongst the darkness, charging my way. I swung my right arm in a hooking motion, but… I didn't feel anything; in fact, the eyes seemed to melt in with the ground, and were looking up at me.

"…waken… Awaken…" I heard the voice call out to me; however, I could not make out the voice trying to make contact, nor did I understand what they meant by "awaken". Awaken to what; reality? I didn't understand, but then the shadow rose up again, and this time, I was able to bring a knee up into it, then kicked it away… however, the action didn't seem to do much, as those eyes moved in a recovering motion. I definitely felt the… thing, there against my knee and foot, and I was sure to have driven considerable pain for it to be noticed, so how was it to recover so quickly?!

I rushed at it, breaking the circle and tried an assortment of hooks, punches, kicks… Most hit, but some missed as the creature melted into the ground and walls, so I would be forced to wait until it rose before I could continue my onslaught. However, nothing was working, and this outright frustrated me, and my friends could see it. It wasn't like me to hold back on something that threatened me or my friends, but the fact my attacks seemed practically futile is proving to be ridiculous!

"Why is nothing working? Come… on!" I called out, delivering a heavy-looking kick to the thing's side, launching it to a wall… but it would melt into the wall, and those yellow eyes continued to gaze at me. "Just… what is that thing; why does it ignore the pain?!" I didn't understand why my defensive techniques were not working, even though I was attacking with everything I had and connecting frequently! The thing would leap off the wall and lunged at me, and as it did, I moved my arm in a half-uppercut motion, but as I did, I felt a solid mass form in my hand, and a flame flickered as I swung the forming weapon at the creature. The flame finished casting its light as the creature seemed to completely vanish when I felt it made contact, nothing remained after the strike, not even the yellow eyes, and after lowering it, I was able to see what kind of weapon I held, as odd as it appeared.

The weapon had what seemed like demonic wings for the guard and handle, though it felt surprisingly light despite appearing rather solid. The metal that made up the weapon appeared to be dark, almost raven black steel in appearance, surrounded in similar dark and demonic symbols, with other signs of flames on it which were violet and red in color. At the end, there seemed to be a black angel's wing directed out, almost like a…

"Key…" I uttered, and my friends looked at me and the weapon I now carry; it seems that this key sword that I dreamed of is the only means to actually harm these things… whatever they were. But… why would it come in my hand; I was not still dreaming, was I? On the end of the hilt, there was a bronze chain with what appears to be a bronze crown attached to it, just dangling freely as I peered out to the others, who were just as puzzled as I was to what had happened.

I did tell them about the dream, a little while ago, and naturally, we all got a bit of a laugh out of it, and I expected that would be the result. It was rather silly, but it was starting to dawn on the three of us that this dream I had was becoming a reality. This key seemed rather dark in appearance, much like the clothes I wore, but I don't think it's related to the clothes or my appearance at all. I can't make any assumptions, however, since I didn't know how I was able to call this weapon to my hand so freely and in a time of need.

"Demitri, just… wow, how did you do that?! Come on, you have to tell me your secret so I can get me one of those things as well!" Gerard went on about almost right away, but Cordelia stopped immediately, and approached with some caution, examining the key under the dim lamp above us. I would understand her cautiousness because of what I had discussed earlier; in fact, I was still unable to believe that what I'm seeing and feeling is a reality. Cordelia is the most logical one of the three of us, so seeing something defy the laws of physics was a definite shocker for her, no doubt.

"…You were talking about your dream earlier, how you stood on a stained glass image of yourself holding this same key sword… Putting the pieces together, I think it was message to inform you that you were going to have to use it sometime soon. And… you couldn't have picked a better time to call its power to bring it to physical reality. We need a moment to try and understand-" Cordelia would go on, but was immediately interrupted the moment the ground around us began to rumble, and we all were forced to stumble to regain our balance.

Next thing I knew, the three of us were falling down, deeper and deeper down into darkness. I lost sight of both Gerard and Cordelia as I fell; whether it was because I passed out during the fall, or the world became so dark that they seemingly vanished, I have no idea. All I knew was that I was enveloped in pure darkness, and I could not see anything at all… Just… what happened…?